12
TAMERLANE.
Sel.Oh. Axalla!Ought I to hear you?
Ax.Come back, ye Hours,And tell my Selima what she has done:Bring back the time, when to her Father's CourtI came Ambassador of Peace from Tamerlane;When hid by conscious Darkness and Disguise,I past the Dangers of the watchful Guards;Bold as the Youth who nightly swam the Hellespont:Then, then she was not worn the Foe of Love;When, as my Soul confest its Flame, and su'dIn moving Sounds for Pity, she frown'd rarely,But, blushing, heard me tell the gentle Tale:Nay, ev'n confest, and told me softly sighingShe thought there was no guilt in Love like mine.
Sel.Young and unskilful in the World's false Arts,I suffer'd Love to steal upon my Softness,And warm me with a lambent guiltless Flame:Yes, I have heard thee swear a thousand times,And call the conscious Pow'rs of Heav'n to witnessThe tend'rest, truest, everlasting Passion:But, Oh! 'tis past; and I will charge RemembranceTo banish the fond image from my Soul:Since thou art sworn the Foe of Royal Bajazet,I have resolv'd to hate thee
Ax.Is it possible!Hate is not in thy Nature; thy whole FrameIs Harmony, without one jarring Atom.Why do'st thou force thy Eyes to wear this Coldness?It damps the Springs of Life. Oh! bid me die,Much rather bid me die, if it be true,That thou haft sworn to hate me.———
Sel.Let Life and DeathWait the Decision of the bloody Field;Nor can thy Fate (my Conqueror) dependUpon a Woman's Hate. Yet since you urgeA Power, which once perhaps I had, there isBut one Request, that I can make with Honour.
Ax.
